News of mergers and acquisitions often comes up in the media industry, and this time it’s Comcast eyeing TV maker Vizio as a possible buy.
According to Protocol, which cited sources with knowledge of the discussions, talks between the two companies are said to have occurred in 2021 as well as earlier this year. But it’s unclear whether these discussions are still ongoing or how far they’ve progressed.
The publication added Comcast is likely seeking a manufacturer to bolster its smart TV platform efforts. One source said Comcast is separately eyeing TV maker TP Vision for an acquisition. TP Vision manufactures Comcast’s Sky Glass-branded TVs for the U.K. market.
Comcast entered the smart TV market last October with the debut of its XClass brand, which runs a version of Comcast’s X1 video platform. Prior to that, Sky launched the Sky Glass OS for its streaming products.
Comcast may want to enhance its smart TV technology to support its recently formed joint venture with Charter Communications. The two cable giants aim to combine their national reach to develop a streaming platform for smart TVs and branded 4K streaming devices.
The JV plays a key role in Comcast’s streaming ambitions. The company has said it’s “uniquely positioned” for streaming, as it plans to explore different options for licensing its platforms – including working with other smart TV OEMS.
Comcast plans to license Flex, its aggregated streaming platform, and Xumo, the free ad-supported streaming service it acquired in 2020, for the JV.
Vizio is a notable player in the smart TV market. It’s got over 15 million customers on its SmartCast operating system, in which streaming consumption has also grown. Platform Plus, Vizio’s ad-supported streaming product, represented around one-fourth of Vizio’s overall Q1 revenue.
Further augmenting its brand, Vizio last month inked a deal with TikTok, allowing Vizio users access to TikTok content on their smart TVs without having to download the app.
Yet Vizio noted on its Q1 earnings call sales of its smart TV hardware have slowed down compared to last year – from 1.5 million to 1.4 million smart TV sets year-on-year.
Enhancing its presence in the smart TV market would make sense for Comcast, as consumers gravitate towards more aggregation-based streaming devices. Smart TVs are seeing broader universal acceptance as a viable consumption device for mainstream OTT services, Parks Associates’ Paul Erickson noted in a March Fierce Video column.